


Brittle Iron Does Not Bend

by Ruunkur



Series: Brittle, Broken, Reforged [1]
Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-02-04 12:46:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12771384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruunkur/pseuds/Ruunkur
Summary: You've known that brittle iron will not bend, no matter how many times it is struck. It will simply shatter in the overall theme of things.





	Brittle Iron Does Not Bend

Your hands shake as you listen to the shattering of glass against the tile floor. Your lips tighten into a grimace when you hear the sob that follows, the cursing, the anger coming forth from the other room and you sit in silence. It's been like this every day you've come home for years now. There's nothing that soften the blows, nothing that keeps him from screaming.

The nightmares haunt you, even when you wake. There's dark circles under your eyes as you go on your day to day business, keeping your inner thoughts chained to the pole that you brace against in your silence. You shiver in vear, each day as the anger in the man that lives besides you grow.

There's things you want to say, things you want to caution against. There's words that can't quite form each time you hear what your beloved has become. And you fear that you will be unable to look them in the face anymore. You fear that your grasp on the situation is beginning to falter, that others will soon pick up what you have been hiding.

You choke back the words, listening to another glass shatter. You press your back harder against the door, clutching your trembling hands to your chest. It would be another couple of minutes, then there would be pounding at your shared door. You would not move, you would simply listen until your beloved takes a step back, takes a breath. Then, it would start anew, the door would be shoved open, you would let him do what he was going to, if only to keep from breaking more things. Because, you're not breakable by any means.

Then there would be the startled realization of what happened, the stepping back. He would call for food, you would slump against a wall, running your hands over red spots that would never form bruises. But, there's a pause and a knock on the door, heard just over the shattering of a final plate and you frown.

It was out of routine for there to be a knock. The neighbors quietly ignored the screaming they heard. There would be-.

You let your head rest against the door as you hear your partner-hah, how long have you been meaning to tell him you wanted out? When was the last time you thought of yourself instead of him?-move through the apartment, feet stepping on shards of glass and you hear the door open.

"What do you want?" The voice, pitched in a low growl of anger, demands.

"I'm looking for Ichijouji, and you. You two were supposed to be at a meeting today."

You recognize the voice as one of the older digidestined. You slouch further in your corner, wishing even now that he hadn't come. The mess, the anger, it was a private thing that shouldn't have been seen by an outsider. You tilt your head, ever waiting for the response in your dark corner.

"He's not here," Daisuke replies, voice curt. "I emailed Hikari and informed her that I would not be attending the meeting. As for Ken, I don't know where he is. But obviously not here."

"I don't believe you."

The words run like ice down your back. The thought that they would have noticed your absence, that they would have sent Yamato to come get you, makes your stomach turn. You wonder what else they had noticed. You never bruise, you never break. Being the Kaiser had taught you to not bend. You're far from brittle and you leave a bitter taste in your own mouth when you go out. You hide, pulling your knees to your chest, feeling like your heart would leap from your ribcage if you didn't press against it.

"Just get out," Daisuke suggests, and you hold your breath, waiting for the response. You hear the door creak and can picture Daisuke pressing against it, trying to chase Yamato away and your heart twinges in your chest. You don't want him to leave, or you want to go with him.

"If he's not here, then where would he be?" Yamato challenges, and you hear the door hitch. You could picture him standing there, hand curled around the door. You can imagine his eyes narrowed. "We haven't heard from him in over a week, where is he?"

"Not here," was Daisuke's only reply and you hear the door open all the way. You hear Yamato step inside, pausing to take a glance around you can assume. And still, you don't move. You feel trapped in your fear. You feel mired in hopelessness. And yet, you want to move. But you know you can't. You know it would only be worse, that at least with fists, there would be no traces left.

But even the most brittle of things will break, if they are struck at too hard. This you have learned, time and time again.

"What do you want?" Daisuke tries again, following the second pair of footsteps throughout the apartment and you freeze when you hear something thud against something solid. The sound of Daisuke moving... And another thud as something hit the floor. You're surprised that the neighbors hadn't called the cops, you're not surprised that Yamato wouldn't just give up and leave when he was told you weren't there.

You push yourself closer to the corner, as close as you could manage, listening to whoever was standing still, move about before you heard the door open. And when you look up, blinking in the sudden light-someone must have turned it on-, you see Yamato standing in the door, a look of horror on his face.

You look up, look past your own carcass to the digidestined that had once seemed so cold to you. You huddle in the corner, your mouth ever twitching as you watch Yamato dail on a phone, and you take a breath, despite knowing it was useless.

"Taichi, we have a problem." Was all Yamato says as he takes in the room. The room that you had been trapped within, the darkness being banished as Yamato flips on another light, making it clear what you knew already.

A piece that is brittle won't simply bend, it will shatter. You shift from your spot on the floor, standing and step around, hand ghosting over Yamato's shoulder, a final thank you for the release of the bonds placed upon you.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I don't write a whole lot of fanfic, and the only fanfic I do write is Homestuck, with lots of second person POV vs Third or even First person POV. This was fun to write, and I may write more like this. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I will clear it up if I can.
> 
> Who knows, I may even do more as the mood strikes me.


End file.
